Augusta, GA…..Today, Dr. Samuel Sullivan, Interim President, announced that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) moved to extend the College’s probationary status for another year. The extension will give Paine College time to address the four remaining sanctions that pertain to financial resources and financial stability.

On June 10th, Dr. Sullivan and members of the College’s administration visited with representatives of SACSCOC in Virginia to review the College’s operation and to respond to four remaining sanctions. Recently, the SACSCOC’s visiting team presented a favorable preliminary report during an on-site three-day visit (March 29-April 1, 2015). The SACSCOC team indicated that the College had made significant improvements and was headed in the right direction. During the exit interview, the SACSCOC representatives gave four recommendations that needed to be further addressed. These areas were included in the initial group of findings that were previously announced. The oral report given by the Special Committee during the exit review was not final and the final decision to allow the College to remain on Probation or to remove its accreditation still hung in the balance.

In 2014, SACSCOC requested that the College demonstrate compliance with The Principles of Accreditation in several broad areas: governance, financial resources/stability, qualified administrative/academic officers, sponsored research/external funds, and institutional environment. Members of the College’s administration, faculty and staff carefully reviewed the SACSCOC standards and developed detailed Implementation Plans that included a reflective, systematic, and outcome focused action plan to ensure that the College produced an evidenced based written response to all concerns raised by SACSCOC.

Dr. Sullivan said, “We are grateful and appreciative of the efforts made by the Paine College Community to address the initial findings that resulted in six of the ten sanctions being removed. Although we received a favorable preliminary report during the on-site visit in April, the campus community did not retreat. Instead, we banned together to address the four remaining sanctions. The special in-house committee remained on the frontline and worked often round-the-clock while others were in the background rendering support.”

Dr. Sullivan applauded the efforts made by the Paine College Board of Trustees to address the sanctions that pertained to board governance. “I am especially grateful to the Board of Trustees who worked to develop a blueprint for improved board governance. As we worked through this process, we have collectively arrived at the realization that we must implement different solutions to arrive at different outcomes.”

Dr. Sullivan stated that the College should continue to work to bring about fiscal stability in enhanced support of our mission. “We have much work to do,” said Dr. Sullivan. “I am appealing to the Paine College alumni, friends, and the greater Augusta community to support the College now more than ever. It is critical that alumni and friends continue to support the Together, We Can Campaign that is designed to meet immediate needs for the College.”

For more information about the Together, We Can Campaign for Paine College, visit www.paine.edu or contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 706.821.8233.